


And I'll Follow You

by princessmelia



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, FitzSimmons - Freeform, Medieval AU, Royalty AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 03:59:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2837267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessmelia/pseuds/princessmelia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Leo finds out his best friend Jemma is actually a princess, what choice does he have but to follow her?</p>
            </blockquote>





	And I'll Follow You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [quibbler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quibbler/gifts).



His footsteps crunched on the small pebbles covering the dirt path. Leo pressed on towards the city, towards the castle, where she would be. If he wanted to, he could still imagine how tightly she clung to him before the guards took her away. Well, took her away sounded harsh. She wasn’t in trouble. Quite the opposite really.

His Jemma. A princess. Who would’ve thought it? 

He shook his head at the ground. He’d known her his entire life, grown up beside her. The whole village was sure they had been promised to each other at birth, but they’d yet to make such an arrangement. Not that Leo would’ve been opposed to one. He thought he loved her. And he thought she loved him, too. 

They’d both known, of course, that Jemma hadn’t lived with her real parent. The woman who was like a mother to her had always asked to simply be called Alice, an older, squatted woman. It had just been assumed Jemma had been abandoned by a single mother many years before, someone unable to care for a baby. And so Alice had raised her as her own.

The day the guards rode into to town had been terrifying. Leo and Jemma had been practicing their alchemy in the small shed behind his house. And while it was more science than magic, it was still close enough to get them arrested and possibly killed. But they lived in a small village on the outskirts of the country, and no one important rode in. Until the summer of their seventeenth year, when she was swept away and taken to join her real family. And now, of course, he was following her.

Being lost in his thoughts, Leo hadn’t noticed when he had stumbled into the city. The buildings loomed around him, tall and intimidating. They were bigger than any buildings he had seen in his whole life. He didn’t know his way around the city, so he merely followed the flow of the crowd, hoping to end up near the castle soon. Sure enough, the larger walls were quick to appear before him.

The grey stone did nothing to dispel his fears and made the flips his stomach was doing increase in their number. Sending darting glances to the guards on either side of the gate, he crowded into the courtyard with some other citizens. It appeared that most of the people who came and went from the courtyard were servants of the castle, holding laundry or food and hustling around on the cobbles. 

“Excuse me,” he called out to one passing man. “Do you know where…” He trailed off as the man quickened his pace away. Slightly embarrassed, but determined, Leo turned to another servant. “Do you knew where Je-- Princess Jemma is?”

“I’m not telling you,” the man replied, moving away. Leo stood in the courtyard, alone and without a plan.

“You lost?” The voice had a tease to it, and Leo turned to find a darker skinned woman grinning at him. 

“A bit,” he admitted. “I’ve never been to the city before.”

“That’s obvious,” she quipped before shifting the basket of clothes in her arms. “My name’s Mary Sue,” she said as she offered her hand. Leo shook it gratefully.

“Leo.”

Mary Sue’s eyes grew wider and her mouth split into a wicked smile. “You’re Leo? Huh. Not what I was picturing.”

“You’ve heard of me?” he asked in disbelief.

“I’m Jemma’s maidservant. She talks almost nonstop about you.”

He blushed a bit and shuffled his feet. “Really? Can you take me to see her?”

Mary sue glanced around the courtyard before leaning in conspiratorially. “She’s listening to the court today with her father and brother. But come to her room tonight, and I’ll let you in, just after sundown. Third floor. Take the north staircase, third door on your left, towards the courtyard. Got that?”

He nodded back at her and Mary Sue grinned. “Great. Jemma will be so pleased to see you.” She nodded one more time before continuing to the washroom. Leo blinked, staring at the young woman’s retreating back before turning to leave the courtyard. He would be seeing Jemma that night. That’s why he had come, of course. So then why did the idea make him so nervous?

///

Leo walked down the hallway, his heart beating hard in his chest. He’d spent all afternoon getting ready: cleaning his face, washing his hair, even finding some flowers outside of the tavern he was staying in. He paced the streets of the city, keeping one eye on the sun at all times. Finally, the sun had set, and he walked into the courtyard and up the north staircase.

One, two, three. The third door was in front of him. Pausing for only a moment, he raised his hand and knocked. Mary Sue answered with a grin. “I knew you’d show up. Please, come in.” She opened the door and Leo stepped inside, letting out a small gasp as he did. The room was as big as his whole house at home. Ornate furniture was scattered about the room, and large curtains hung in the windows.

“Leo?” He turned toward the voice and found Jemma sitting at a small vanity, her hand frozen above her hair, brush still in hand.

“Hello, Jemma,” he said, cursing the shake in his voice. But he needn’t had worried because before he knew it, she was in his arms, and the flowers he’d been meaning to hand to her laid forgotten on the floor.

“What are you doing here?” she asked into his shoulder. Imagining her hugs were nothing compared to the reality of the thing. 

“I’m here to see you.”

“But why?” She pulled away finally and looked up at him. “Did you get a job here?”

“I, uh-- uh-- no.” 

“Leo!” Jemma slapped his arm. “What were you thinking? Did you just follow me without a plan?”

“Maybe?” He posed the answer as a question, fearing another slap. He hadn’t thought his plan through, only wanting to find her. He could see now how foolish he must have looked.

“I’ve got an idea,” Mary Sue spoke up from where she was still standing by the closed door. “Prince Grant fired his manservant the other day, if I recall correctly. And I don’t think he’s filled the position yet. Leo could most likely get the job.”

“Mary Sue, you’re a genius!” Jemma gushed as she moved to hug her maidservant. “Thank you!”

“Just doing my job, milady,” Mary Sue said as she winked at Leo over Jemma’s shoulder.

“Prince Grant?” Leo squeaked out. He had heard of the prince. They said he was as tall as a bear on its hind legs and had killed more than a dozen of them in his life. With his bare hands.

“He’s not as bad as we were told,” Jemma assured as she turned back to Leo. “I thought he would be horrid, too, but he’s not. He’s quite sweet, actually.”

“On his good days,” Mary Sue commented under her breath. Jemma turned to her sharply and Mary Sue held up her hands in surrender. “Most days are his good days, though.”

“Plus,” Jemma added, turning back to Leo, “he is my brother. I’m sure if I tell him that you are an old friend, he’ll be happy to employ you.” She nodded her head and seemed quite satisfied with herself. “Yes, and then we can see each other all the time. Oh, Leo, I’m so glad you’re here!” She hugged him again, even tighter than before. “I’ve missed you so much,” she whispered into his ear.

This time when she pulled away, she moved her hands to capture his and moved him to sit on her bed with her. “Now, tell me all about home. How is everyone? How’s Alice?”

Before he could answer, Mary Sue spoke up. “I think I’m going to give you two some privacy. I’ll lock the door and be back in an hour.”

“Thank you, Mary Sue,” Jemma replied with a nod. 

The rest of the night they spent talking and reminiscing about their old lives and their village back home. Leo fought the urge to kiss her throughout the entire night. They’d never talked about their feelings before, and the first night hardly seemed appropriate. He did, however, leave her with a farewell kiss on the cheek before he left.

Mary Sue would not stop talking about it for the whole next day.

///

“And that armor better be as shiny as a new piece of silver by the morning.” Leo wasn’t sure how he was balancing all of the metal he held in his arms as he followed his new master through the halls of the castle. It’d been a week since he’d started his employment for Grant, and Leo still wasn’t quite sure what his job all entailed except that he was expected to do whatever Prince Grant said.

“Yes, sire,” Leo responded. 

Grant glanced over his shoulder and down at his servant. “That’s all for the afternoon, Leo. I expect to see you with my dinner in a few hours.”

The curly haired man nodded. “Of course, sire.” 

“You’ve been doing well, Leo,” Grant informed him with a small smile before going into his rooms. It was the first compliment Leo had been given. He thought Grant liked him well enough, and he felt much of the same for his new master.

///

They met in secret ways, whenever they could. Mary sue watched for them, and kept Prince Grant occupied when she had to. It wasn’t all that difficult, considering he was fairly smitten with her. Leo had Tuesday afternoons free while Grant went to his tutors and meetings, and Jemma normally scheduled a ride through the forest then, having her guard clear the area first.

There was a small meadow filled with flowers and patches of grass. One of these patches was a perfect balance of sunlight and shadow from the surrounding trees, and that’s where Leo and Jemma would often sit and talk.

“I swear, her nose actually pointed straight into the air!” Jemma declared. 

“You should’ve seen her table manners,” Leo said, adding to the gossip of Grant’s newest potential wife. “She actually speared each individual piece of lettuce one at a time.” He rolled his eyes.

“Oh, and the way she took off her gloves,” Jemma added with contempt. “I swear, she was judging me for taking mine off too fast. It was apparent that she thought I was below her. It’s not my fault I grew up without knowing my heritage. If Grant saw how she treated me, he’d never have her for a wife.” Jemma was confident in that. Grant cared about her far too much, even if he had hardly shown it over the last six months. She waited patiently for Leo to agree with her or add a comment of his own, but there was nothing but silence at her side.

Turning, she saw her him staring at the ground in front of them, eyes sad and brow contemplative. “What is it?”

“How long until the king starts setting you up with suitors of your own?”  
“Oh.” To be honest, she hadn’t given it much thought, but she supposed it would happen some day. A second child would need to make a good match, just in case something should happen to the first, but her marriage could also bring political gain to her country. Nothing would be gained in the eyes of her father if she married the man beside her.

“You’ll have to leave me, eventually,” he stated. 

With a gentle touch to his cheek, she encouraged him to look at her. “Maybe. But for now, I love you, Leo.” And then she leaned in and kissed him.

///

Leo was closing the door to Jemma’s room late one night when he turned and saw his master coming down the hallway. “Your Highness,” he greeted with a quick bow.

“This is dangerous, Leo,” Grant warned.

“Pardon?”

Grant shook his head, but his look wasn’t angry or even disappointed. He looked, more than anything, concerned. “If my father finds out what is going on between you two, he will have your head.” Leo was silent, but dropped his eyes to the floor. “I only want to make sure you’re both alright.” He placed a hand on Leo’s shoulder, startling the younger man. “Who else would polish my armor?” he added with a small smile before going on his way.

///

Prince Grant gazed out the palace window, watching as his sister rode away to the forest. “Keep an eye on them,” he told the guard, Carlton, who was standing beside him. “And make sure no one knows of this, especially not the king.”

“Treason, sire?” the guard asked with trepidation.

Grant shook his head. “A necessary ellipsis of information. Important to any diplomatic relations.” Carlton knew nothing of those, but nodded anyway before leaving. Grant took a deep breath and watched as his manservant left the palace courtyard on foot, the same direction as his sister.

The prince hoped he was doing what was right.

///

Carlton followed them for a few weeks, noting they did not much but talk and maybe steal a few kisses. Certainly nothing to be alarmed about. Princes and kings had small affairs all the time, why not princesses as well? And to be honest, what he saw could hardly be called an affair.

He reported to Grant regularly, kept others away from the couple, and made sure the princess was safe. Everything went smoothly, until the day Leo and Jemma met at Leo’s house. Carlton followed with curiosity as they went into the little house on the outskirts of the town.

“But Leo,” Jemma was saying as he pulled her inside the house, “are you sure it’s okay to do it here?”

“Absolutely. I’ve been working on something special. Just watch.” The young man pulled out a large pot and set it on his table, and the water within it sloshed dangerously. One by one he put in strange minerals until there was a small explosion above the pot. Magic.

Carlton stumbled away from the building, sprinting towards the castle. The prince had commanded him watch over their relationship-- he’d said nothing about magic. That was news worthy of the king.

///

Leo and Grant were both working in a comfortable silence in the prince’s chambers. Grant hated working on the papers in front of him and would have made Leo do them, if the servant had been able to. Instead, Leo was hanging up the prince’s laundry, having just returned from an afternoon out.

The peace would have lasted for a couple hours more if guards hadn’t bursted into the room. Grant was up in a second, hand on his sword. “What is it? What’s happened?” The guards, however, ignored him and went straight for Leo who dropped the shirt he was folding.

“You’re under arrest for practicing magic,” the lead guard informed Leo as his arms were twisted behind his back. The young man let out a gasp at the pain and turned to Grant, panic in his eyes.

The prince shook his head in disbelief. “There must be some mistake.”

“No mistake, Your Highness,” the guard said as the others dragged Leo away. “Carlton witnessed him performing it only a few hours ago. And with the princess there, no less. Some think he was trying to enchant her.” The guard shook his head in disgust.

The color drained from Grant’s face. This was his fault.

///

The dungeon was cold, Leo came to find out. Curled up in the corner, he hugged his knees close to his chest, trying to keep any heat he could. Morbid thoughts plagued him, and he fought back the urge to cry. He was going to die.

The cell door screeched open, and he didn’t dare hope it would be a friendly face behind the door. It wasn’t. The king stood there with an important looking man next to him. “Find out what you can,” the king declared before sweeping away.

“With pleasure.”

The next few hours were a whirlwind for Leo. There was water, colder than the dungeons. He knew he would have a black eye, if he lived long enough for it to develop. Scratches littered his body and he was surely covered in bruises. He didn’t even try to curl up and save his heat. He only tried to put himself in the least amount of pain and then fell asleep.

///

Jemma was finishing unpinning her hair when there was a knock on her door. The late hour meant it was most likely Leo there to check on her, and maybe to steal a few kisses, too. Checking over her reflection one more time, Jemma bounded to the door, cracking it open, expecting to see the blue eyes of her love only to be met with a chest. Glancing up, she saw her brother standing before her.

“Grant? What are you doing here?” Her eyes scanned the corridor around him, seeing if his manservant had accompanied him. Maybe Leo had been caught sneaking around, and Grant wanted to make him apologize. It wouldn’t be the first time her new brother had tried to interfere.

“It’s Leo.” His voice was hollow and aching. It made her heart beat faster. 

“What? Grant, what happened to him? Is he alright?”

The prince’s face was pale, and he couldn’t seem to meet her eyes, always glancing to the side of her face or over her head. “He’s been imprisoned for the use of magic. Father will make his decree in the morning.” The world stopped for a few moments. Leo. Her precious Leo. She tried to push past her brother, but he continued to stand in her doorway, effectively blocking her. “What are you doing?”

“I have to see him!” she cried, putting both hands on his chest and digging her heels into the ground. She might as well have tried to push a cart out of the mud for all the good it did her against her brother, but she didn’t care. Leo could not be imprisoned. He could not be about to die. He couldn’t.

“You can’t. He’s not being allowed visitors.” His voice was calm. It made Jemma more enraged.

“No!” She beat against his chest, crying frustratedly. His hands gripped her arms tightly, forcing her to stop her motions. But nothing could stop her words. “No, he can’t be. Not because of me… Not Leo… I love him.” And then she was sobbing, and Grant was surprisingly gentle as he held her, offering her what comfort he could. She remembered that he cared for Leo, too, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Her Leo was going to die, and it would be because of her. The world was tumbling down around her, and even Grant couldn’t stop it. Never had she wished to go back to the blissful days before she was a princess so bad. “I want to go home,” she confessed. Grant continued to rub her back as she cried. “I want Leo to be safe.”

And she wasn’t quite sure whether or not she felt the vibrations in his chest as Grant replied, “Me too.”

///

It should have been a public trial, but given Leo’s position in the royal household, they kept it a small affair. Jemma wasn’t allowed to attend, and she was pacing her rooms all morning, hours before dawn even. Mary Sue sat up with her as long as she could. 

Grant had left shortly after telling her the news, waiting until a passing servant went and found Mary Sue to stay with his sister. Jemma hadn’t even been able to gather her thoughts before he was gone.

She sat at her desk and wrote out her message in the candlelight, her hands still shaky and unsure. Tying it quickly, she handed it to Mary Sue with a grave look. “Give this to Grant before the trial starts. Leo may have a chance if he knows.”

Mary Sue nodded, a serious look on her normally laughing face. “I will.”

“Mary Sue, I--”

“I know.” The servant placed her hand over Jemma’s. “We’ll see him safe again, I swear.”

///

Mary Sue got there late. And as such, she had to spend the entire trial inching her way forward to where Grant was seated. Though private, many of the household staff was attending, as was their right when a fellow servant was accused. It became particularly difficult to move when she saw Leo.

He was practically laying on the ground, and his skin was covered in small bruises. She was almost positive he couldn’t pay attention or he would have been arguing the points the king was making himself. As it was, he only seemed to look at the ground with dull eyes.

She made her way to Grant right before the conclusion of the trial, and she watched as he quickly unrolled the message. 

“Is there any final evidence?” King Phillip asked.

“I have something,” Grant spoke up just as he finished reading. “What if it was not magic? What if it was something closer to science?”

Leo’s head lifted slightly at the word to look up at where Mary Sue and Grant were standing. King Phillip looked first at his son, then directly at Mary Sue, who averted her eyes immediately.

“Go on,” he commanded eventually.

“I believe what Leo was doing was alchemy, a practice more related to science than to magic.”

“And do you have proof?”

“Search his house,” Grant said confidently. “You’ll find nothing that can’t be found in the physician’s chambers.”

Phillip gazed down at the young man. The king was strict, but nothing if not fair. “Put him back in his cell and search his house. If what my son says is true, then he will be released. He will also begin work with the court’s physician,” the king declared unexpectedly. 

Grant had known the physician all his life, and while the decree wasn’t a punishment, it certainly wasn’t a reward either. The physician was a tough man and disciplined. He would keep a close eye on Leo, and between that and working for Grant as well, he would have almost no time to himself. Still, it wasn’t death. Grant had to sigh in relief at that.

///

Grant, Jemma, and Mary Sue took turns watching over Leo in the physician’s chambers. He’d been brought there by Grant upon his release, needing to be looked over for injuries and illness. He’d developed a fever down in his cell, and slept for a while. Jemma was there when he woke up.

Her hand was wrapped tightly around his, and for the briefest moment he thought it was a manacle of some kind. But when Leo looked up, he saw Jemma’s face in the low light of the candle. She was beautiful.

“Jemma?” His voice cracked a bit, but she looked up at him anyway.

A small smile took over her face. “Leo.” Leaning over to grab a cup of water, she never let go of his hand as she pressed it to his lips. Waiting until he was done, she finally withdrew and placed the cup back down on the table. “You had me worried sick,” she said as she pushed his hair back from his brow.

“Sorry. I should’ve listened to you.”

“You should have,” she agreed. “But you’re alright now.”

He looked away. “We won’t have time to meet anymore. All my free time will be here.” He felt her hand move as she brought his up to rest against her cheek. He turned back to her, startled. “What?”

“It doesn’t matter.” She shook her head slowly, but Leo was transfixed by her eyes. They shone with love in the candlelight. “We’ll figure something out. I’ll talk to Grant if I have to. We’ll make this work, together.”

He nodded and stroked her cheek once before lowering his hand and grabbing hers again. He brought it to his lips and placed a gentle kiss there. They would always fix these things, together.


End file.
